The Ministry of Justice on Sunday suspended Park Sang-yong, a senior prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, from duty over allegations that he attempted to coerce witness statements during an investigation into illegal remittances to North Korea.
"We have ordered the suspension of Senior Prosecutor Park, who is under inspection for alleged misconduct including violations of professional duty and remarks raising concerns about investigative fairness during the North Korea remittance case investigation," the ministry said in a press notice.
Ku Ja-hyun, acting Prosecutor General, requested Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho to suspend Park from duty under Article 8 of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act. Minister Jeong determined that it was clearly inappropriate for Park to continue performing his duties given the nature of the alleged misconduct, and ordered the suspension.
Park is accused of coercing Lee Hwa-young, former Vice Governor for Peace Affairs of Gyeonggi Province, into making a false confession regarding Ssangbangwool Group's transfer of U.S. dollars to North Korea. Since taking office in July last year, Minister Jeong ordered an internal fact-finding investigation at the ministry, which "confirmed circumstances in which salmon sashimi rice bowls and salmon sushi were brought into the prosecutor's office and consumed together by the prosecutor and suspects," prompting a formal inspection.
"The Supreme Prosecutors' Office is conducting an inspection of Senior Prosecutor Park through the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office's 'Human Rights Violation Review Task Force,' separate from the investigation cases transferred to the second comprehensive special counsel," the ministry said. "We will take swift and strict action based on the inspection results."